


Dating™

by 4fandoms4ever



Series: The Butterfly Effect [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, Starfleet Academy, bones doesn't deserve to suffer like this, dating™, oblivious idiots, someone pls help these idiots pls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-26 23:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18726997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4fandoms4ever/pseuds/4fandoms4ever
Summary: The one where it's Carol who is oblivious, Jim clearly wants to date her, and the only dialogue I give Bones is "oh my god" and "get a room"





	Dating™

**Author's Note:**

> here, have this unbeted, underdeveloped oneshot I wrote at 1am before my last final

Over the past year and a half, Carol has grown to know Jim about as well as anyone will ever be able to. She knows that he wakes up every morning at 5:00 sharp (according to an exasperated Leonard), gets his hair cut once every two months and _hates_ cranberries with an unjustified passion. She knows that if given the chance, he’ll flirt with every lifeform—male, female or otherwise—like it’s an Olympic sport, but refuses to go any further if they’re uninterested. He’s punctual but never early; eats like a bird, but scrapes his plate clean; can talk himself out of trouble just as easily as he can get into trouble.

Carol knows Jim as well as anyone will ever know Jim, which is why she found herself genuinely surprised when James Tiberius Kirk blushed the color of a Georgian sunset when someone asked him if he was dating her.

There is a brief silence, where Leonard, Nyota, and Gaila all exchange loaded looks.

“Oh my _god,_ ” Leonard finally says, pushing his chair away from the table and just. Walks away. Leaving his book bag, food and everything. 

“Way to have my back, Bones,” Jim grumbles, before turning back to Gary Mitchell. “I don’t date people,” he informs the first year. “And why don’t you ask Carol if you’re so curious? She’s _right here_.”

Gaila nods appreciatively. “You’re a real ally, Jim,” she says, and that’s the end of it.

Except it’s not. It’s really not.

 

* * *

 

 

“Would you date me?” Carol demands, flopping dramatically onto her bed. Christine glances up from her holopad, one eyebrow raised.

“I mean. I’m not into girls.”

“No, like. If you were though. There’s like nothing wrong with me, right?” Carol mumbles into her pillow.

There’s a short silence. And then, “I _swear_ , you and Kirk are more high school then _actual high school._ ”

Carol frowns and looks up. “What? How did you know Jim was involved?”

Her friend gives her an unimpressed _are you serious_ look. “What did he say?” she demands.

“Gary asked if we were dating.”

There’s a pause. “And?”

“Jim blushed and wouldn’t give a straight answer. I think he was embarrassed that someone thought he would date me.”

“Holy shit, Carol.”

“I know.”

“No, not _holy shit Kirk is an asshole,_ its _holy shit you both are idiots._ ”

Carol reels back, confused. “Wait, I don’t follow.”

Chris shakes her head. “Nuh uh. Do everyone a favor and go ask Jim how he feels about you, okay?”

“That is the worst idea _ever_. He’s not into me Chris,” Carol sighs.

“And if that’s true, then what’s the matter?” her friend asks, looking smug.

There’s a brief pause where Carol collects her thoughts. “He flirts with _everyone but me_. I’m feeling insulted.”

“He flirted with you when you both first met.”

“And he hasn’t since!” Carol shrills, throwing her hands up. “He’s lost all interest and thinks I’m unappealing!”

Chris snorts, hard. “Ho boy. Leonard was right.”

Carol blinks. “What.”

“Never mind. Ask him. Or better yet, ask _Jim_.”

And that’s the end of that.

 

* * *

 

 

Except it wasn’t.

Gary asks Carol out two days later. In front of Jim.

There’s a brief pause where Carol weighs her options (and gauges Jim’s reaction, but he’s staring at his pad with such undivided focus Carol realizes that he probably doesn’t care).

“Sure,” Carol agrees, with a sharp smile. Jim tenses slightly, but his eyes don’t stray from whatever he’s staring at. “I mean it’s not as if I’m dating anyone else anyway.”

“Oh my god,” Leonard says, shoving his books under his arm and leaving the emptying classroom.

“Shit, wait up,” Nyota gets out, sounding strained.

Jim finally looks up from his pad as he tucks it away in his bookbag. “I need new friends,” is the only comment he makes, before swiftly leaving the room.

And that is the end of it.

 

* * *

 

 

Of course it isn’t though. It never is.

Carol pounds on the dormroom door, fully aware that it’s 2:00 am, but not caring. (Whatever, it’s the weekend, _everyone_ is awake right now.)

Leonard answers the door, takes one look at her tight dress, made-up hair, and _enraged_ face and says, “Oh my _god_.”

“I feel like that’s all you say now,” Jim’s voice shouts from inside the room.

“Jim, come out here and _kiss Carol already before you give her anymore mixed signals_ ,” Leonard shouts back.

Carol blinks. “What.”

Leonard gives her a strained smile. “You know what. I like Christine. I’m sleeping in Christine’s dorm tonight. You can have my bed if Jim doesn’t get his shit together and offer his. Goodnight.”

And with that Leonard walks away, wearing nothing except for a pair of boxer shorts and a thin t-shirt.

“I think he needs therapy,” Jim says, poking his head outside the door to stare at the back of his retreating roommate. Carol’s heart leaps into her throat. The Jim Kirk stand in front of her was decidedly _not_ the James Kirk she saw every day in class—not a hair out of place, uniform crisp, eyes sharp, smile charming. No, this Jim was wearing nothing except a tight pair of briefs, had his hair sticking up in every direction, and looked like an exhausted puppy. This Jim was rumpled and sleepy and _indecent_.

And it was doing weird butterfly things to Carol’s stomach.

“Wait, I thought you and Gary had a date tonight,” Jim says, interrupting her train of thought. “Like he would _not_ shut up about—oh _shit_.” He stares at her, eyes sweeping up over her figure. “ _Shit_.”

Carol crosses her arms. “Are you going to invite me in?” she grits out.

“Uh. Yeah. Yeah, totally, uh, come in. Yeah.” He moves away from the door, making a sweeping gesture with his hands. “I—you look very nice,” he squeaks out, sounding very unsure of himself and unlike Jim.

Carol stiffly walks in, ignoring the compliment. “I told Gary it wasn’t going to work between us.”

“I. What?” Jim stares at her. “ _Why_?”

She glares at him. “He’s fresh off his breakup with Liz. I’m not anybody’s rebound.”

“Oh,” Jim replies, sounding somewhere between flustered and relieved. “I. That’s good. Always should have…self-respect. Yes, very good.”

“I also said,” she goes on, taking a predatory step toward him, “that I was interested in _someone else._ ”

Jim takes a step backwards, looking mildly terrified. And kind of disappointed. “Oh? Well. You should tell them?”

“I _am_ ,” she growls, taking another step toward him.

Jim takes another confused step away, back hitting the door. “Oh. _Oh_. Wait—”

Carol sighs impatiently and that’s the only warning he gets before she surges up and captures his lips with her own.

After a long, dumbfounded moment, he begins kissing back.

“Oh my god,” he says, when she pulls away. “I think I’m still asleep.”

Carol snorts. “Well, you can go back to bed if you wa—”

“Shut up,” is all the warning _she_ gets before he’s kissing her.

And that’s the end of that.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> stayed tuned for more in the series, i think it's growing on me


End file.
